gothamfandomcom-20200222-history
Jeremiah Valeska
|appearances = 5 episodes (see below) |actor = Cameron Monaghan }} Jeremiah Valeska is a mentally deranged and dangerous terrorist, criminal and murderer. He is also the more intelligent and more dangerous identical twin brother of the anarchistic cult leader Jerome Valeska. As a child, Jeremiah supposedly suffered years of abuse at the hands of his psychopathic brother, who even burnt Jeremiah's bed while Jeremiah himself was in it. Jeremiah would in turn manufacture several lies about his brother that would turn Jerome's entire family against him. In a desperate attempt to defend Jeremiah from his monstrous brother, his uncle took him away from Haly's Circus, in which his mother Lila worked, and proceeded to take him to St. Ignatius. Following this Jeremiah changed his name and started calling himself Xander Wilde. After finishing school, Jeremiah had become a highly intelligent engineer, and since a young age, he used to construct labyrinths and built a hideout of his own to protect himself from his brother, which took almost six years of construction. In addition to the hideout which he filled with security cameras, rooms of work and more, he met a young woman named Ecco who started to work for him as a proxy and assistant. Jeremiah would later reunite with his brother, who after a rampage to find his twin, found him in his hideout. Right after witnessing his brother's death, Jeremiah received a gift which was sent to him by Jerome, which is revealed to be a "special" gas created just for him. Upon inhaling it, his face became pale white and a wide red grin formed from ear to ear, finally giving Jeremiah the drive to explore that dark side of him that his brother Jerome had seen. Becoming obsessed with both Bruce Wayne and re-building Gotham in his own image after destroying it, he eventually formed an alliance with Ra's al Ghul. After mortally injuring Selina Kyle in an attempt to destroy Bruce's attachments and drive him insane, Jeremiah demolished all of Gotham's bridges, cutting the city off from the rest of the world and paving the way for Bruce to become the "Dark Knight" Ra's had foreseen. When Gotham City became a no man's land, Jeremiah managed to escape into the night, with him still being on the loose once again in the abandoned city. Biography Early Life Jeremiah was born to Lila Valeska and Paul Cicero and is the twin brother of Jerome Valeska According to Jeremiah, Jerome would abuse and scare Jeremiah when he was little. Jeremiah would later recount that he realized Jerome was dangerous and knew he needed to get away from him so he snuck away one night from Haly's Circus and had his uncle Zachary place him at St. Ignatius. Shortly afterwards, Jeremiah took on the alias of "Xander Wilde". He himself would later explain that he did this since he wanted to make it more difficult for Jerome to track him down. Jerome on the other hand stated that he got adopted by rich people, explaining at least his changed surname. He would then study at school and become an engineer. Four years after graduating, he started construction on his hideout, an underground maze bunker in a forest on the outskirts of Gotham City. The building took 6 years to complete. At an unknown point in time, he met a woman named Ecco and hired her as his proxy and assistant. Reunited With Jerome Ten years after Jeremiah's graduation, Jerome breaks out of Arkham Asylum and kills their uncle, Zachary at the diner he owns for the location of his brother. Jeremiah is then confronted by the stunned Captain Jim Gordon and Detective Harvey Bullock. They ask Jeremiah about him and Jerome, he tells them that once Jerome tried to kill him, so he ran away and changed his name to Xander Wilde. They then find out that he‘s holding Jerome captive, so they immediately order Jeremiah to let him go but he refuses to do so. After finding out that the Legion of Horribles is inside the building, and that they hypnotized Ecco, Jeremiah takes Jim and Harvey into the halls of his house, which were built as a maze that he’s the only one he can get out of. The three find Ecco there but, since she was hypnotized by Tetch, she gets into a fight with them, Ecco easily wins and takes Jeremiah to Jerome, but she’s eventually knocked out by Jim. Jeremiah then tries to escape but Jerome finds him. They have a verbal fight, in which Jerome tells he’s disappointed by what Jeremiah told about him, since, in his point of view, all of the things he said were lies. Jeremiah did agree that certain things that he told were in fact exaggerations of the truth. Jerome also tells Jeremiah that he’s going to drive him crazy and then kill him. Jim and Harvey eventually get to them, so Jerome runs away leaving Jeremiah behind. Jeremiah is later taken to the GCPD so that he can be put into protective custody. Jerome took the Mayor, his wife, and a police officer hostage. He demanded that Jim bring him, Jeremiah and Bruce Wayne. Jeremiah is hesitant to go at first but later agrees. Jerome straps Jeremiah and Bruce into a chair. Jerome tells the crowd the story of him and Jeremiah and then cuts Jeremiah free. Determined to prove Jeremiah is just like him, Jerome hands Jeremiah the knife and tells him to take his best shot. Jeremiah tries to stab Jerome, who knocks him out with a single punch. Later, Jeremiah approaches Jerome’s body after he fell to his death. As Jeremiah walks away, Bruce asks him to let Wayne Enterprises fund his work. Jeremiah thanks Bruce and shakes his hand. Driven Insane After Jerome's death, Jeremiah discovered a gift in his secret office and opened it. The gift is revealed to be a jack-in-the-box in the form of a disfigured clown head that sprays Jeremiah with a special mixture of the laughing venom created by Jerome. The gas then eventually drives Jeremiah completely insane as Jerome's voice speaks to him in a recording coming out of the gift box, encouraging Jeremiah to be Jerome's successor and his ultimate revenge. Even though Jeremiah tried to fight the venom, it ultimately turned him into a complete maniac with white skin and red lips. However, Jeremiah claimed that other than the cosmetic changes, the gas did nothing to his sanity: this indicates that Jerome was telling the truth about Jeremiah's mental state, and that he indeed shares his brother’s psychosis. Revealing his dark side Jeremiah created a recording tape of himself disguised as his deceased brother Jerome and stated that he would have a wake at the GCPD. He then set Ecco to invite Jerome fanatics that were celebrating at his grave. When Bruce Wayne visited Jeremiah Valeska, he showed Bruce Wayne the prototype of the device he was working on. He also pulled out Jerome's diary which Arkham gave to him after his death. There he revealed that the book was disturbing and holding him back but Bruce morally supported him by saying to quit the book. Shortly after, Bruce received a phone call about Jerome's wake and Jeremiah became paranoid. Jeremiah confessed that he was sprayed the Insanity Gas as Jerome's last sick game and Bruce convinced Jeremiah to visit Jerome's grave to truly convince the cowering Jeremiah that he was truly dead. After visiting the grave and finding it empty, Jeremiah runs away inside the cemetery building and when Bruce catches up to him, it appears as Jeremiah is losing his mind, now that he views that Bruce is his dead brother. After Jeremiah chases Bruce towards Jerome's Graveyard, Jerome's body is now placed next to the tombstone. Still not buying the fact that his brother is dead, he pulled out a knife from Jerome's corpse and fought Bruce Wayne. Jim Gordon investigates he bunker and a recording starts playing. when Ecco arrived and placed a gun at his head, the recording starts and it looked like Jerome had an extra tape regarding Jim Gordon. After an extensive fight with Ecco, it is revealed to Gordon that Jeremiah was faking the Jerome act as he peels off the fake damaged skin and rubs the makeup off with a cloth. Meanwhile, Jeremiah reveals his true colors to Bruce by confessing that the whole event was just an act and Jeremiah was insane the whole time. After a thug proclaims proudly "Jerome's victorious" Jeremiah murders him in cold blood due to him believing that he was the victorious one and not his brother since he was dead. He then revealed his plans for Gotham as he pulled out the diary and stated he was going to complete his brother’s wishes in a sane matter. Bruce disregarded his plan by saying its complete madness and then he states that he wouldnt go as extreme and brutal as his brother but rather get things done straight to the point he said "Jerome wanted to slather you in honey and have you eaten alive by corpse beetles. Now that's mad. Me if I wanted to kill you I'd just do it. I'll shoot you in the head. Simply and sanely". He then reveals to Bruce that the generators he invested his money in were going to be used as bombs rather than electricity resource. Back at Jermiah's residence the bunker's generator starts a timer for an explosion, but luckily Jim finds a secret buzzer underneath the table and unlocks the door and escapes the bunker. as the bunker explodes. Jeremiah presumes Jim has died and passes on that information the Bruce, where Bruce angrily vows that he will stop Jeremiah. Jeremiah and Ecco then head to Wayne Enterprise and kill two guards to obtain their keycards. they open the locked door with the key cards and it is revealed that there is a room full of the powerful generators Jeremiah created and Bruce invested in. He then orders Ecco to move them as he plans to destroy Gotham and "Rebuild it" Plan To Rebuild Gotham Confronting Bullock, Jeremiah announces he has bombs hidden around Gotham City and states if Bullock were to do any harm to Jeremiah, the explosives will trigger. Jeremiah gives Bullock six hours to evacuate the city and destroys the Gotham Clock Tower to show he is telling the truth. Later, when Bruce met with Bullock, Jeremiah calls him and tells him the address Alfred, who Jeremiah had kidnapped, is at and warns Bruce not to tell the police as Jeremiah knows where Bruce is. He later watches Bruce via CCTV as he is forced to witness Alfred Pennyworth being tortured in an attempt to drive him mad; Jeremiah remarks that he "envys" Bruce, and that he wants him to embrace his true, darker nature after being forced to lose everything and everyone he loves. As Jeremiah enters his safehouse, he finds The Penguin, Barbara Kean, Tabitha Galavan, and Butch Gilzean waiting for him with one of Jeremiah's henchmen, Jongleur, hostage; they have also located and taken the cord relay that allows him to detonate all his bombs at once. They demand an additional hour to evacuate the city and $50 million. Jeremiah, pretending to agree to their demands, calls the mayor, but then claims he was put on hold, pulls out a bazooka and blows up Jongleur and the cord relay. Furious at Penguin's assertion that he is "out of his mind", Jeremiah remarks that he has always had a backup plan. He then tells them he has changed his mind due to their interference, and will detonate the bombs as soon as he's a safe distance away. Jeremiah orders his followers to kill them and escapes. Later when he's in another bunker, Jeremiah prepares to detonate the bombs however finds out that Gordon is still alive, much to his anger and frustration. Jeremiah triggers the detonator, but the generators do not explode as Bullock had disabled them in time. The followers get angry at Jeremiah and he ultimately decides to seal them inside the bunker and incinerates them. Later, Jeremiah plans to start over when he is met by Ra's al Ghul who explains its not about Gotham; it's about Bruce. Later when Bruce and Selina are talking about Jeremiah's obsession with Bruce, Bruce explains that Jeremiah was working on the premise that "one bad day" can drive someone insane. He wonders if his parents' deaths "made him a little insane", and if Jeremiah had sensed that and was trying to bring it to the surface. As Selina replies that Bruce proved him wrong, Jeremiah suddenly enters the room and holds and holds a pistol to her abdomen, remarking that the day's not over yet. He then shoots Selina in the stomach, knocking her backwards, then throws his gun away. As Bruce desperately tries to keep Selina alive, Alfred rushes in, knocks Jeremiah down and begins pummeling him repeatedly in the face. Aligned with Ra's al Ghul After being arrested, Jeremiah was held at the GCPD. Talking with Gordon, Jeremiah claims he has planted other bombs around the city. A few moments later, a bomb goes off, killing the mayor. A major has Bruce Wayne meet with Jeremiah, attempting to get the location of the other bombs. Jeremiah only taunts him about Selina and Bruce gets frustrated and orders him to tell him where he hid the bombs. Jeremiah finally reveals to Bruce he is working with Ra's al Ghul. The lights go out, and Bruce and Jeremiah both vanish; they have both been evacuated from the GCPD by the League of Shadows, which also steals all of Jeremiah's confiscated bombs and re-distributes them across Gotham's bridge system, are then taken to Ra's. Ra's and Jeremiah tell Bruce they'll create a legacy by destroying Gotham, allowing Bruce to be "reborn" as the Dark Knight of Ra's visions; Jeremiah admits he is skeptical of prophecies and visions, but the idea of he and Bruce rising from the fall of Gotham together appeals to him. Barbara Kean, Tabitha Galavan, Penguin, and Alfred arrive and attack the League of Shadows; Jeremiah manages to injure and nearly kill Tabitha before Penguin shoots him in the shoulder. Barbara and Bruce kill Ra's who tells Bruce to become Gotham's dark knight. Suddenly, the bombs that Ra's and Jeremiah had planted go off and destroy the bridges connecting Gotham to the mainland. Jeremiah smiles savagely and escapes into the night of the abandoned city. Shortly afterwards, Bruce is seen interrogating a small-time criminal about Jeremiah's whereabouts; he tells him to let Jeremiah know he is coming for him. Personality Though he appeared to be more stable then his brother, calling him after his transformation a “Short-sighted psychopath, he wanted to destroy things”, Jerome claimed that Jeremiah was as crazy as he was. He was shown to be deceptive, as he claimed that Jerome was threatening to kill him, though he later admitted to Jerome that it didn't happen exactly as he had described it. He also tried to deceive Jim Gordon and Harvey Bullock that Jerome could not find him, even though he had captured Jerome at this point. He was overconfident, bordering on arrogance, on being able to keep his brother trapped, something that led to Jeremiah escaping him. He was also willing to let people die if it meant he could avoid Jerome, showing that he was selfish to a degree. After being exposed to Jerome's altered laughing toxin, Jeremiah appeared to have been driven completely insane, laughing uncontrollably as he was transformed by the toxin. However, according to Jeremiah, his brother’s gas did little more than alter him cosmetically, indicating that he was truly psychopathic all along. Whether he was truly insane before the gas or if he is simply attempting to downplay his brother's effect on him is still unknown. Since this event, he has shown traits quite similar to his brother, showing ruthlessness as he executed one of Jerome's followers in cold blood for pronouncing Jerome to be victorious. He has also showed arrogance, as he believed he could complete Jerome's plans in a "sane" manner. (As Jeremiah puts it, he'll do something "simply and sanely"; if he wants to kill someone, he'll do it without flashy theatrics and be done with it.) Jeremiah has still shown himself to be highly deceptive, as he was able to act as Jerome on video tapes of his "will", only dropping the act to illustrate his new sinister personality. Jeremiah has also shown to be quite calm for the most port, even when he is furious and speaking in a monotonous tone for the most part. However, despite appearing calmer than Jerome, he does have the same explosive temper, screaming at his followers to prevent them attacking him, which led to him burning them all to death, showing the same disregard for others that his brother showed. He also shows a denial about his insanity, as he claims he is not insane several times. He has also shown that he feels he is superior to Jerome, claiming to be 'vastly more intelligent' than his twin, as well as saying he will outdo all of Jerome's plans. Physical Appearance Originally, Jeremiah was identical to his brother, the only exception being his slightly darker hair. He wore glasses and dressed usually in an orange suit and blue collared shirt, and occasionally, a blue coat. After his exposure to the insanity gas, Jeremiah's skin turned extremely pale. In addition, his lips became bright red and his eyes piercing green. He later dyed his hair a very dark green and wore a purple and black suit as well as a plaid trentch coat. Occassionally, he can be seen wearing a black hat. Abilities *'High-level intellect:' Jeremiah is shown to be highly intelligent. Since he was a child, he used to draw mazes, and when he grew up, after having the best grades at school, he built one in his house, which he built underneath the woods. Furthermore, he is extremely manipulative as he was able to keep anyone from discovering his insanity for years, even after it was brought to the forefront by Jerome's gas, and he was able to convince everyone that he was Jerome in the tapes he sent to Jerome's followers and the GCPD. Jeremiah also claims to be 'vastly more intelligent' than Jerome was. He is a brilliant engineer, designing advanced generators capable of powering Gotham that could double as powerful explosive devices. *'High pain tolerance/Indomitable will:' Jeremiah has shown to have a high tolerance for pain, as he showed no signs of pain when Alfred was punching him in the face repeatedly. He later showed only slight signs of pain when shot by Oswald Cobblepot with a machine gun. *'Master tactician:' Using his vast intelligence, Jeremiah also filled his secret hideout with security cameras in order to be ready for his twisted brother's arrival, whilst also utilizing the right tactics in order to trap and escape Jerome. *'Evasion:' Jeremiah has shown to be skilled in evading people, as he was able to evade Jerome for years. *'Master engineer:' After graduating school, Jeremiah used his construction skills of labyrinths in order to build a secretive hideout for himself in order to defend himself from Jerome, which took him six years of construction. *'Impersonation/Acting:' He was able to impersonate his brother Jerome in multiple video recordings, making him a very talented actor, even capable of fooling the whole GCPD and the Cult of Jerome with his disguise. *'Make-up artist:' Jeremiah is shown to be a skilled make-up artist on many occasions. After his skin was bleached white, Jeremiah was able to use make-up to hide his transformation from the public for weeks. He was even capable of taking on the appearance of his brother Jerome by the use of prosthetic make-up for the scars. *'Voice alteration:' Jeremiah was able to change his voice to make himself sound like someone else. It was shown that he can convincingly imitate the voice of his brother Jerome, a very difficult task, since Jerome got his striking voice because he got stabbed in the throat before his first death, disfiguring his vocal cords permanently after his resurrection. *'Skilled Marksman:' Jeremiah has shown profiency with guns and other firearms. He was able to shoot and kill one of Jerome's followers without looking at the man behind him using his hidden sleeve gun. *'Skilled Knife Wielder:' Jeremiah is skilled at using a knife. This is seen one he attacked Bruce with a straight razor and when he used Tabatha’s karmbit knife against her and almost killed her with it. *'Hand to Hand Combatant:' Jerimah has shown some skill in hand to hand combat. This is seen when he managed to pin Tabitha to the ground after stabbing her with her own karambit knife, though he had also taken her by surprise at the time.. Weaknesses *'Arrogance:' Jeremiah believed that he had captured Jerome and could keep him imprisoned. When Jim and Bullock attempted to put him in protective custody, Jeremiah firmly believed he had defeated Jerome. Only for Jerome to outmaneuver him by leading his allies to Jeremiah's location, hypnotizing his bodyguard, and revealing that he memorized the labyrinths that Jeremiah designed as a child. Jeremiah also arrogantly believed that his bomb had killed Jim Gordon, even though he had no proof that he had perished. *'Jerome:' Jeremiah's greatest weakness is Jerome, his own twin brother. Since a young age Jeremiah supposedly suffered from Jerome's twisted and sadistic personality this led to Jeremiah suffering at the hands of Jerome who tormented him violently and sadistically, at one point during this period Jerome even set fire to Jeremiah's bed while he was still in it. Jerome also wished to have Jeremiah carry on his legacy by spraying him with a “special gas” that could drive him insane. According to Jeremiah, the gas merely changed his face and did not have any effect on his true deranged mentality. However, it has yet to be determined which of the brother's claims are more accurate, as it was in Jeremiah's best interests to deny credit to his brother as much as possible as well as having previously lied about some of Jerome's actions. Equipment *'Guns/Firearms:' He uses different firearms, primarily handguns, which he appears relatively proficient with. He used a small derringer pistol that retracts from his sleeve to kill a Jerome follower. * Knives: Jeremiah has used different types of knives. He used a spring-assisted knife given to him by Jerome to try to kill him and make him given to his killer instincts. He used a straight razor taken from Jerome’s corpse to attack Bruce. He used Tabitha’s karmbit knife against her and almost killed her with it. *'Bombs/explosives': ' '''Jeremiah used a wide variety of explosive devices, particularly the specialized generators he had designed and built with the help of Wayne Enterprises. He modified them to serve as bombs; just one was easily capable of leveling a skyscraper. Being a brilliant engineer, he designed highly sophisticated and efficient detonation systems for his explosives as well. Jeremiah also used a bazooka/ rocket-propelled grenade to destroy Jongleur during his confrontation with Penguin and the Sirens. Appearances Season 4 * * * * * Trivia *According to executive producer John Stephens, Jeremiah will not be the only Joker in Gotham's universe and could be replaced by others who watch the actions of Jerome, Jeremiah and a possible third or even fourth one, adopting them as inspirations . *Unlike other versions of the Joker, Jeremiah is calm and calculating. *The Joker made his first appearence in Batman #1 (April 25, 1940). The original character was created by Jerry Robinson, Bob Kane, and Bill Finger and first appeared in Batman #1. *This is the third live-action version of the Joker to appear on television and the sixth live-action version overall(excluding the various actors involved in various commercials involving the Joker such as the recent Snickers ad campaign), with the first being in the 1966 live-action TV series ''Batman played by Cesar Romero, the second in the 1989 live-action movie played by Jack Nicholson, the third in the 2002 live-action TV series Birds of Prey played by Roger Stoneburner and voiced over by Mark Hamill, the fourth in the 2008 live-action movie The Dark Knight played by Heath Ledger and the fifth being in the 2016 live-action movie Suicide Squad played by Jared Leto. *Jeremiah Valeska is heavily based on the original Joker from the Golden Age of Comic Books as well as the Joker from Frank Miller's 1986 Batman: The Dark Knight Returns storyline, where the character was potrayed as much more cold and calculating while also lacking damaged face muscles and nerves that make him look like he was smiling all times. *Like the Joker from Batman: The Animated Series from 1992, Jeremiah Valeska's hair appears in a very dark green tone, almost seeming black in certain light conditions. *Jeremiah's outfit with the purple hat and coat is an allusion to clothes the Joker wore in in the comics on multiple occasions, most famous in Batman: The Killing Joke and Batman: No Man's Land, as well as the 1989 live-action movie Batman. *When Jeremiah is going insane, he clutches his head in a way that mirrors the famous panel of The Joker going insane in Batman: The Killing Joke. *Xander's assumed surname could be a reference to the wild and unpredictable nature of the Joker. It could specifically be a reference to an episode of Batman: The Animated Series called "Joker’s Wilde". *Jeremiah's role in A Dark Knight: That Old Corpse somewhat resembles the Joker's in-universe chronological debut in the Arkham game universe as shown in the Batman: Arkham Origins game. Throughout the course of that game, the Joker temporarily takes over the identity of the crime boss Black Mask to manipulate Black Mask's criminal organization to achieve his own ends before eventually revealing himself. Jeremiah for his part, takes over the identity of his brother Jerome and manipulates the followers of Jerome's cult to achieve his own ends, before eventually revealing himself. *Jeremiah and Jerome share the same facial features apart from Jeremiah's hair being dark brown, with Jerome's being red, and Jeremiah wearing glasses. *It appears that Jeremiah dyes his hair green instead of it being chemically changed, similar to Heath Ledger's Joker. *It is possible that Jeremiah's stories about Jerome's being a psychopath as a child, are fictional and purely a ploy to get sympathy from those around him. Notes *Even though Jeremiah acts as Gotham's version of the Joker, he will never be called "The Joker" as Cameron Monoghan confirmed on his twitter account due to Warner Bros. wanting to use the name "Joker" for future projects. Cameron also confirmed Jeremiah can not have bright green hair.https://twitter.com/cameronmonaghan/status/995422386437570560 This has led to a small Campaign called #LetGothamUseJoker *Jeremiah stated that being sprayed with Jerome's special laughing gas caused no change in his mentality, indicating that he was insane before he was sprayed, the gas just brought his insanity to the forefront of his mentality and that the gas simply changed Jeremiah's facial appearance. It is unknown though how true this statement is, as Jeremiah may be simply in denial about how his brother's actions truly changed him. References Category:Allusions to the comics Category:Antagonists Category:Former protagonists Category:Candidates for the Joker